Red and Blue
by Posie Jones
Summary: Ai is a rather- outspoken girl. Meaning she never stops talking. Even when alone. Known for regenerating limbs, she is particularly interesting to the Akatsuki. And Kisame.


Ai groaned, dog tired. She hefted the bag that was attempting to dislocate her shoulder to the other, trying to even out her developing hunch.

"Why do the fates hate me?" She complained out loud.

Her red bangs fell over her face, brushing her nose, threatening to conjure a sneeze.

Ai closed her yellow eyes, shaking the pixie-cut hair from her face.

"Jeez. To think you're supposed to be a part of me. Why wont you just do what you're told?"

She snorted agitatedly, digging into her pocket to find the key to her apartment.

"Aw, come on."

Finally, the key surfaced, and gloriously clicked into place, the gears of the lock quietly applauded her efforts.

Ai dropped the heavy, leather shoulder bag onto the floor, feeling her entire body being pulled up by a spine that seemed to have disappeared beneath the weight of her books.

Moaning as she stretched out her aching back, she forced herself to crouch and enter the bag. Unfortunately, there was work to be done.

"Should have been a ninja." She muttered as she fumbled with the clasp of the bag.

Although she possessed no real fighting skills, Ai did harbor some interestingly strong medical skills. What had intrigued Lady Tsunade, though, was her uncanny ability to regenerate limbs.

"Like a starfish." She had noted.

Ai laughed once through her nose at the memory, not expecting to, ever in her life, be compared to a starfish.

"Alright, book, where are you hiding?"

After she had been scouted out by Tsunade, she had begun her internship at the infirmary, only eighteen, working daily miracles.

"Ah hah!"

Ai sprang up, relieved to have finally found that stubborn medical book.

"Jeez-"

Her words of relief were cut short by a large hand clamped over her mouth.

Ai froze completely. What had she been taught in those self-defense courses? Nothing memorable. She settled for thrashing around like a spasmodical cat.

"Don't move." A harsh voice whispered in her ear.

Her chest heaved under the arm that now restrained it.

Ai's mind spun rapidly, trying to think of the best way to kill herself off before they could get any useful information out of her. The man behind her seemed to read her thoughts, twisting her arm, rendering her basically useless.

"P-Please, I don't know anything."

"We don't want information." Another voice murmured from her left.

Her head was forced down harshly, but she managed to catch an eyeful.

The only thing that Ai could make out against the figure that spoke was bright red. Just- red. Nothing but that mesmerizing red. Red….

Kisame felt the woman in his arms go limp, and he shifted her in his arm, ready to take off. Her short, shaggy red hair hung, as if it alone was trying to remain home.

He looked over at his partner, Itachi, and they took off into the night with their newest catch.

Ai coughed, throwing an arm over her eyes.

"Un.."

Memories of the incident slammed into her, throwing her off of the bed.

"Oh my God!" She cried, staggering to the door, bumping her forehead onto it's surface. Breathing heavily, head spinning, she threw it open.

Her red hair flew around her as her head slumped forward, the blood finally catching up to her and rushing into her cranium all at once-

"Ohh…" She held her head in a hand, feeling the wall for direction.

Ai hit something hard in her blind frenzy.

Dazedly, she gazed up, seeing an angry blue face glaring down at her.

"Ah, please don't hurt me." She mumbled, almost falling back into unconsciousness.

"What are you doing, wandering these halls?" The blue man asked blatantly.

Ai had nothing to say.

Kisame was amused to see that the woman they had captured was, surprisingly, attractive.

Five- eight. Thin. Bright red hair, cut short. It looked like it was desperately trying to be a wavy curtain, but had to settle for a textured pixie cut. Pastel yellow eyes that, at the moment, looked up widely at his own black ones. Pale skin, luxuriously smooth. Baggy black ninja pants, tied tight at the ankles with bandages. No shoes, he noted humorously. Loose, white, tucked in shirt that billowed out behind a black strap that attached to a small medical pack.

'Forgot to take that..' He thought dryly.

Ai seemed to finally snap back to her senses, and realized that she had her medical pack. She vaguely remembered slipping a scalpel into it..

Whipping it out, she pointed it at him with a shaky hand.

"I have a- uh- weapon! So- you'd better get back and let me out of here! Right now, mister!"

Kisame snorted and swatted it out of her hands, sending it clattering to the floor yards away.

"Lets go, kid."

He took firm hold of Ai's arm, almost dragging her through the hallway.

"Hey, I can walk, mister."

Kisame remained silent, really not in the mood to deal with a kid like this.

"Leader-Sama, I have the new recruit." Kisame called through the large wooden door.

"Come in." A chilling voice replied.

Ai shivered. Kisame opened the door, and tried to push her through, only to have Ai cling to him terrified.

"Wait, I cant go in there alone. Don't leave me! Please!"

Kisame looked at her incredulously.

He shook her off and shoved her through, and she pressed her back against the door, trembling.

"Come here." The voice said.

"Ah, I think I'm much more comfortable over here, thanks.." Ai felt the shakiness of her voice in her larynx.

"Come here."

"I-I'd really rather no-"

"If you value your life, you'll come this way."

Ai went completely cold, and found her legs committing mutiny, carrying her over to the source of the voice.

"You're here because your ability to regenerate limbs is of great use to the Akatsuki."

Ai remained speechless, partially frozen from fear, and partially transfixed by the mans strange appearance. Neon orange hair and piercings everywhere.

"You have two choices. Either you join the Akatsuki, or you die."

"O-Oh. Really? Well… Can I think about it?"

"No.""U-Um. Ok. Well, I- guess I'll join…" Ai felt a pang in her heart. Yes, it was apparent her back was against the wall, but turning her back on the entire village?

'Well, technically it isn't turning my back.. I'm facing East. But, they're not asking me for information… So I guess its ok..'

"Here is a cloak and ring. Find a room."

"Oh, ah, thanks."

Ai threw the cloak over her shoulder and slipped the ring on, eyeing the red color.

"Wow… So pretty…"

Without noticing, she meandered into a common room.

Looking around, she noticed it was completely deserted.

"Huh. Guess that means it's just me and the blue guy."

Ai unzipped the cloak and slipped it on over her clothes, deciding to leave it open, realizing it was a lot hotter inside than it looked.

"Where is everyone?"

"Will you keep it down? People are sleeping."

The blue man had appeared beside her, sitting at the couch with a glass of sake in hand.

"Oh… I'm sorry."

Ai stared at him for a moment.

"You talk to yourself too much. It'll start to make people worry."

"Coming from the blue man…"

Kisame threw a glare in her direction. Ai smiled painfully, wishing she hadn't blurted that out.

"Well, I'm part of the crew now!"

"Oh, joy."

Ai sighed, knowing this conversation wasn't going anywhere.

"I'm Ai." She extended a hand to him.

"Kisame." He growled, disregarding the hand.

Ai stood awkwardly in the common room, wondering what to do next.

"So, what do you guys do around here?"

"Nothing."

Kisame took a swig of the sake.

Ai sat across from him, getting a better look at his face. Putting it all together, he looked more like a shark.

She smiled to herself, wondering how it came to be.

Gills, blue-ness, dark eyes. Definitely a shark.

"Uh huh. Kisame, how did you end up looking like that?"

He closed his eyes in frustration. This was a hide-out for S-ranked criminals. They had kidnapped her. She was one of two women here. Why wasn't she scared already so she could leave him the hell alone?

"I don't know, Ai. Sometimes things just happen."

Before she could answer, a high pitched voice rang out through the layer.

"Good morning! Tobi's hungry!"

Ai burst out laughing, glad to have someone break the dark mood.

Kisame covered his face with a hand.

"That's Tobi. God. He wakes up every day at nine."

Ai's smile grew broader.

"Seems like fun."

Kisame laughed once. "You have no idea."

"Heloooo- Oh! Kisame! Who's this? Tobi didn't hear about new recruits. Hey, everyone! New recruit!"

A black haired man ran into the room, his face obscured by a large, swirly, orange mask. Nevertheless, Ai was sure he was grinning behind it.

Ai laughed, and greeted the energetic man.

"Hi, I'm Ai."

"Hello, I'm Tobi. Tobi's a good boy."

Ai laughed again.

Kisame felt another pang in his heart when he heard her laugh, and, to his dismay, felt his face grow the lightest bit of purple. He shook it off, and chased it away with another swig of sake.

"So, how long have I been out?" Ai asked Kisame, suddenly appearing in front of him.

"Three days. It's nine in the morning."

Ai's face twisted into a shocked expression. "Really? Wow… I slept like a rock."

"I should have locked that holding cell." Kisame muttered to himself.

"Tobi, I swear, un, if you wake me up like that one more time, yeah, I'll- Oh, well, what do we have here, un?"

A man with long blonde hair approached her, the long bangs covering one eye. He grinned widely and sashayed up to her, facing her head on, nose to nose, exactly her height.

"She's a piece of art, yeah." He noted, bright blue eye taking her all in.

Ai blushed and laughed nervously. "Th-Thanks. Who are you?"

He laughed. "Deidara, un. Who, may I ask, is this lady, un?"

Ai's blush returned. "Ai."

Kisame stiffened, clenching the bottle in his fist, restraining himself from killing Deidara on the spot.

The crowd of three heard a shattering sound, and looked over to see a mess of porcelain, sake, and blood all over the front of Kisame.

"Shit." He said harshly, brushing the catastrophe off of him, only smearing blood on the front of his cloak.

"Wait! I can fix that!" Ai called, rushing to the rescue.

Snatching Kisame's hand, she laid her over it, letting the chakra run through and gently heal the deep gash in the side of his palm.

Kisame looked down in wonder as the skin regenerated around the wound.

"There. Done!" Ai grinned at him before dancing away with her newfound friends.

Kisame looked down at the rubble on his lap, a thick blush coming over his face.

"All set?" Ai asked Kisame, surprisingly chipper for this early in the morning.

"Aren't I supposed to be asking you this? This is your fist mission."

Ai shrugged, grinning up at him.

They set off early that morning. It had been a month since she had arrived here, and already Kisame had fallen head over heels. The forest had already come alive, the birds screaming morning greetings to one another, the plants plastering them with early morning dew.

"So.. What are we supposed to do again?"

Kisame huffed. "For the last time. We're after a hidden scroll in the Wave Village."

"Oh yeah. Why am I going, then?"

"Incase one of us gets hurt."

"Gotcha."

Silence set in and got comfortable, knowing it would be there a while.

Halfway to the village, they were intercepted.

"Get down!" Kisame cried, pushing Ai onto the springy earth bed.

"Oof!" She hit the ground hard. Ai looked over her shoulder, seeing Kisame going head to head with an enemy ninja.

He slashed at him with his large sword, ripping a wound in their side.

Ai gasped, cringing at the sight.

No sooner had Kisame killed that ninja, when another popped out, rushing straight into Ai.

"Kisame!"

Ai shut her eyes, waiting for the impact of the knife into her neck. When it took longer than expected, she peeked out, seeing Kisame in hand to hand combat with the assailant.

Ai breathed out, feeling- warm? Why warm? Because he had protected her? Ai watched him fight, smiling subconsciously at the fire in his eyes.

Kisame threw down the corpse of the man, looking back at her, wild-eyed.

"Are you alright?" He asked breathlessly.

"Uh- I guess so." She answered, feeling a spark.

She saw Kisame's hackles fall, and, to her surprise, he extended a hand to her.

Ai's heart skipped a beat, and for the rest of the trip, walked just that much closer to him.

After they returned from the mission, it was same as ever, save for the failed attempts at bringing the two of them together on her part.

Unbeknownst to her, Kisame was actually trying as well, but miserably failed as hard as she did. And so, a week later, they were somewhat friends, more of acquaintances, really, but friends, nevertheless.

"Thirty-eight, thirty-nine, forty! Ready or not, here I come!"

Ai ran through the halls of the Akatsuki, looking for her masked friend.

It had been almost a year since she had been taken in. After gathering reports from her old village, she learned she had been pronounced a missing-nin.

At first, life with Kisame had been hard, what with him being so- Kisame. But, after a while (a long while), he had become- nice. Very nice, actually. In all honesty, she looked forward to her next mission with him. He was like a hard sweet. Sour (very sour) on the outside, but sweet and sugary on the inside. Not to say Kisame was ever 'sweet and sugary', but- Ai knew him to be something along those lines. And, somewhere along the way, had maybe even come to love him for that. Love him for everything. It was the way he made her heart beat so fast, and how she became excited whenever he entered the room, and when he looked at her with those eyes-

"Ah HAH! Found you, Tobi!" Ai grinned triumphantly, finding Tobi smashed between the bookcase and the wall.

"Ohhhh, Ai. You found Tobi's secret hiding place!"

Ai laughed, giving him a noogy.

Tobi laughed along, pulling on her rosy cheeks.

"Ai? Kisame's looking for you." Konan called, rolling her eyes at the scene.

"'Kay!"

She pushed Tobi playfully, feeling her heart begin to do those funny things that it always did when she was around him, or was about to be around him, for that matter.

"Oh jeez, he wants to see me…"

Kisame breathed deeply, trying to think through what he was feeling.

"Kisame? You wanted me?"

'How right you are.' He thought to himself.

Discreetly, he gave her a once over, eyes sticking to her perfectly shaped legs and face. The famous face.

"Yeah. Ai, what do you think of me?"

Ai blinked, unsure of what to say.

"Uh, I think you're Kisame…?"

Kisame breathed out, realizing this would be harder than he anticipated.

"No, I mean, how do you view me?"

"Tall? Blue?"

Her red hair fell over her eyes again, making Kisame's rising anger fade away.

"I think I need to spell this out."

"Spell what out?"

Kisame face-palmed. "Alright. Close your eyes."

Ai closed them tightly, a faint smile gracing her pale, circular face.

Kisame looked, stunned, then snapped out of it.

Silently, he stalked over, taking her face in his hands.

Before her eyes could pop open, he kissed her deeply, hands unmoving when she tried to step back in surprise.

Her entire body went rigid beneath him, and right as he was about to pull away, she responded, pushing back with equal force.

"Woah. Kisame, I didn't even- I didn't even think you had a romantic bone in your body!"

Kisame cracked a smile. "Only one."

Ai flushed deep red, matching the color of her hair.

"I- I-"

Kisame smirked, flashing her a sharky grin.

"Want to pay me back for saving your life numerous times?"

Ai was fixed to the spot, red wave growing, complementing Kisame's blue color.

He tousled her hair and picked her up, kicking open the door to his room.


End file.
